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Wow!!! Exclamation Points Do More Than End Sentences

Wow!!! Exclamation Points Do More Than End Sentences

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One of my writing coaching clients sent me a link to a blog post about exclamation points. I was fond of striking them from her text as I edited her website content. And it does seem that they pop up with more frequency these days. (Insert your own comment here about how social media destroys all, if you’re not too busy yelling at the neighbor kids to get off your lawn.)

The essential questions in the Authentic Organizations blog post were this: are exclamation points unprofessional, do they corrode the credibility of women and did the writer really care or not?  You can read it here.

I don’t have a problem with exclamation points in general. They serve a purpose and give writers the ability to use their authentic voice when writing, which I always advocate for myself and all the writers I work with.

However, I do have an issue with exclamation points used in bulk (and I believe that ending three out of four sentences that way as the blogger did is the very definition of “bulk.”) Whether you are a man or woman, use that many exclamation points and you make your writing start to sound breathless and vaguely like an infomercial. Act now! Limited time offer! Operators are waiting! The blanket that has sleeves!

So go ahead and use an exclamation point now and then.  Moderation is the key here, just as it annoyingly is in all good things. Just don’t use multiples. There is no excuse for ending any sentence with !!!! unless you are a fourteen-year-old girl trying to convey just how cute that boy in your homeroom is and you agree to dotting all your I’s with hearts.

 

Barbara Govednik launched 423 Communication in 2001 to helps its clients tell their stories through freelance writing services, coaching and editing services, and employee communication consulting and implementation. Read Barbara’s Being Well Said Blog.

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